Gold prospecting, rockhounding and fossil collecting laws in the US

Where you can do what

The federal rules at a glance, by who manages the land. They tell you what the land manager allows; the state can add permits, seasons and bans on top, especially for anything that works in the water.

Green: allowed. Amber: allowed with a notice or a permit. Red: not allowed. Gray: ask the agency. State rules apply on top.

The short answer: three layers and a trump card

Wherever you prospect or collect, three layers of rules sit on top of each other, plus one that can override them all:

• Who owns the land. The federal agency, the state or the private owner decides whether you can be there at all and what you can do on the ground. On open BLM land and in most national forests, panning, hand sluicing, metal detecting and collecting rocks need no paperwork. In national parks, wildlife refuges and on private land without permission, they are not allowed.
• The state, for water and fish. Anything that works in or next to a stream, from a motorized pump to a suction dredge, is regulated by the state, even on federal land. That is why the same dredge is legal in one state and banned in the next.
• The Clean Water Act. In some states a dredge also needs a discharge permit, issued by the EPA or the state water quality agency.
• Mining claims. Wherever someone holds a valid claim, the minerals belong to them. Prospecting there without permission is claim jumping, whatever equipment you use.

The rest of this page goes through each layer, then through each piece of equipment and each kind of find.

First question: who owns the land?

Before anything else you need to know whose land you are standing on. Federal public land is managed by agencies with very different rules: the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service allow prospecting and rockhounding on most of their land, while the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service almost never do. Then there is state land, tribal land and private land, which together make up most of the country east of the Rockies.

Boundaries are often unmarked on the ground, and private parcels sit inside national forests and along rivers. The official tools are the agencies' own maps and the national database of public and protected land, PAD-US. That is also what our map is built on: the blue spots and green stripes on Eureka are on public land open to the public with no claim on record, and the gray veil marks land that is closed or private.

If you're not sure, ask. A phone call to the local BLM field office or Forest Service ranger district costs nothing and is the best protection you have.

Mining claims: the rule that overrides everything

Under the Mining Law of 1872 ↗, anyone can stake a mining claim on federal land that is open to mineral entry. A valid claim gives the holder the right to the minerals in it, gold first of all. The land stays public, and you can usually still walk, hike and camp there, but the gold is not yours to take. Panning, sluicing or detecting for gold on someone else's claim without permission is claim jumping, and claim holders take it very seriously.

The claim holder marks the claim with posts or monuments and puts up a location notice. They then have 90 days after the date of location to record the claim with the BLM and the county (43 CFR 3833.11 ↗). That has a consequence worth knowing: a brand-new claim can exist on the ground before it shows up in any database, ours included. Claim holders also have to pay a maintenance fee every year by September 1, and claims whose fee is not paid lapse.

What the law says

“You must record in the proper BLM State Office a copy of the notice of certificate of location … by the 90th day after the date of location.”

— 43 CFR 3833.11(a) ↗

How to check: look for posts and notices on the ground and read the date on the notice, then search the BLM's official Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS) ↗. On our map, red spots and red stripes mean a claim is on record there, and we refresh the claim data regularly. When in doubt, don't dig.

Reading a claim on the ground, step by step

The records and the ground don't always match. Old posts stay up for years after a claim dies, a brand-new claim can be on the ground before it is in the records, and notices fade in the sun. Here is how to work out what is really there, in the order we would do it ourselves.

• Before you go, list the live claims. Look at the spot on our map: red means a claim is on record there. Then run the Mining Claims Geographic Report in the BLM's MLRS ↗ for that township, range and section, and write down every claim it returns: name, serial number, claimant. From the serial number you can open each claim's register page and the map the claimant filed. Search every status that isn't closed, not only Active: a claim just filed can show as filed or under review.
• On the ground, find the notices. Every claim has its corners marked with posts or monuments, and a location notice posted in a conspicuous place, often in a can or a pipe on one of the posts. By federal law the notice gives the claim's name, the names of the locators, the date of location and a description of the claim.
• Match each notice to your list. If the claim name is on your list of live claims, it is a live claim: stay off it unless the owner gives you permission.
• The extra claim. Say the records show three live claims and you find four sets of notices. Read the date on the odd one. If it was located less than 90 days ago, it may be a new claim the BLM hasn't recorded yet: treat it as live. If it is older, look it up in MLRS by name: a claim that shows as closed has often been forfeited for an unpaid maintenance fee, which by law makes it null and void. Before you treat the ground as open, look for a newer notice on the same posts: someone may have staked it again.
• Can't read it? A faded notice, a post with no notice, posts that don't match anything: treat the ground as claimed. You can't tell whose it is, and that is reason enough to walk on.
• Patented is different. A patented claim is no longer a claim at all: it is private land, with no annual fee and no place in the list of active claims. Treat it like any private property. On our map, patented land shows as private.
• Want to work a live claim? The claimant's name and address are on the notice and in the records. Write and ask: many claim owners say yes to a hobby panner, especially when you ask first.
• Never touch posts or notices, not even ones that look abandoned. How posts must be built and where the notice goes is set by each state, and our state pages explain the local rules.

What the agency says

“A report can be generated from MLRS that contains any active mining claims located within the specific township, range, section, and quarter section queried.”

— BLM, Montana-Dakotas mining claims packet ↗

What the agency says

“Open (non-closed) claims are not confined only to the ACTIVE case disposition. Please broaden your search to other case dispositions as needed.”

— BLM guide to MLRS reports (via Nevada Division of Minerals) ↗

What the law says

“Post the notice of location in a conspicuous place on the claim or site. The notice must include: (i) The name or names of the locators; (ii) The date of the location; and (iii) A description of the claim or site; (iv) The name or number of the claim or site, or both, if the claim or site has both;”

— 43 CFR 3832.11(c)(3) ↗

What the law says

“shall conclusively constitute a forfeiture of the unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site by the claimant and the claim shall be deemed null and void by operation of law.”

— 30 U.S.C. 28i, on failing to pay the annual maintenance fee ↗

Equipment, step by step

Federal land managers care about how much you disturb the ground; states care about what you do to the water. Here is where each piece of equipment stands on the federal side, and what states typically add. The state rules always apply too, and they are often the stricter ones. On BLM land the key words are casual use ↗; in national forests, the notice of intent ↗.

What the law says

“Casual use generally includes the collection of geochemical, rock, soil, or mineral specimens using hand tools; hand panning; or non-motorized sluicing. It may include use of small portable suction dredges. It also generally includes use of metal detectors, gold spears and other battery-operated devices for sensing the presence of minerals, and hand and battery-operated drywashers.”

— 43 CFR 3809.5 (BLM) ↗

What the law says

“A notice of intent to operate is not required for: … Prospecting and sampling which will not cause significant surface resource disturbance … which generally might include searching for and occasionally removing small mineral samples or specimens, gold panning, metal detecting, non-motorized hand sluicing, using battery operated dry washers, and collecting of mineral specimens using hand tools”

— 36 CFR 228.4(a)(1)(ii) (Forest Service) ↗

What the agency says

“If an operation requires use of motorized equipment, suction dredges, results in the removal of vegetation, or has potential to cause significant ground disturbance, an operator must contact the closest Forest Service district office to file a Notice of Intent to prospect or mine.”

— Forest Service, gold panning and prospecting rules ↗

What the law says

“Casual use does not include use of mechanized earth-moving equipment, truck-mounted drilling equipment, … chemicals, or explosives.”

— 43 CFR 3809.5 (BLM) ↗

Water: why the state decides about pumps and dredges

Rivers and streams are the state's waters, and the fish in them are the state's fish. Any equipment that digs in a streambed, moves gravel in the water or pumps water out of a stream falls under state law on fish and water quality, and those laws apply on federal land too. That is how a BLM ranger can tell you a small dredge is casual use while a state game warden writes you a ticket for running it without a permit.

Three states show how far apart the rules can be:

• California has banned suction dredging in its rivers, streams and lakes since 2009. Since 2015 the law treats any motorized equipment used to dig or process material from a stream's bed, bank or channel as suction dredging, so highbankers and power sluices fed with stream gravel are out too. Details are on our California gold page.
• Washington regulates every bit of mineral prospecting in or near water. Panning and other non-motorized methods are covered by the Gold and Fish rules ↗, with no application needed; any motorized or gravity-siphon equipment needs an individual Hydraulic Project Approval from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
• Idaho allows small suction dredges, with a nozzle up to 5 inches and an engine up to 15 horsepower, but only with two permits: one from the Idaho Department of Water Resources and a general discharge permit for small suction dredges ↗, issued by the EPA until 2020 and by the state since then.

What the agency says

“The current edition of the Gold and Fish pamphlet was released on May 19, 2021 and authorizes certain non-motorized methods of mineral prospecting. Mineral prospecting methods not authorized through the pamphlet, including the use of any motorized or gravity siphon equipment, require an HPA.”

— Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ↗

What the agency says

“Operators of small suction dredges in Idaho must obtain NPDES permit coverage.”

— EPA, small suction dredge general permit for Idaho ↗

On top of that, many states close streams to in-water work in the months when fish spawn, and some rivers are closed to prospecting altogether. Our state pages list the permits, what they cost and the work windows, state by state.

Rocks, gems, fossils, petrified wood and meteorites

Rocks, minerals and gemstones. On BLM land you may collect reasonable amounts of rocks, mineral specimens and semiprecious gemstones for noncommercial purposes without a permit, except in developed recreation sites and in areas closed and posted. No explosives, and no motorized or mechanical tools except metal detectors (43 CFR 8365.1-5 ↗). Some BLM state offices put a number on reasonable, like 25 pounds a day and 250 a year in Arizona ↗: that is a local rule, not a national one. In national forests, collecting for personal, hobby use is allowed on most land, and some forests ask for a free-use permit.

What the law says

“Except on developed recreation sites and areas, or where otherwise prohibited and posted, it is permissible to collect from the public lands reasonable amounts of the following for noncommercial purposes: … Nonrenewable resources such as rocks, mineral specimens, and semiprecious gemstones”

— 43 CFR 8365.1-5(b) ↗

Fossils. Common invertebrate and plant fossils, like shells, trilobites and leaf imprints, may be collected on BLM land without a permit, up to 25 pounds a day per person, for personal use only: they may not be sold or bartered (BLM ↗). National forests allow small amounts of common invertebrate and plant fossils collected from the surface for personal use. Vertebrate fossils, meaning bones, teeth, tracks and any other remains of animals with a backbone, can't be collected on federal land without a research permit, and that includes fossil shark teeth. On private land, with the owner's permission, the federal rules don't apply.

What the agency says

“Non-vertebrate fossils: Casual collectors may obtain up to 25 pounds of common non-vertebrate paleontological resources per day per person.”

— BLM, Can I Collect Fossils? ↗

What the agency says

“Invertebrate and plant fossils (including invertebrate and plant trace fossils) may be collected without a permit, from the surface without digging and for personal, hobby, educational, and noncommercial use only.”

— Forest Service, Tonto National Forest ↗

Petrified wood. On BLM land the limit is set by regulation (43 CFR 3622.4 ↗): 25 pounds plus one piece per person per day, and no more than 250 pounds a year. You can't pool quotas with friends to take a bigger piece, you can't use power equipment, and you can't sell it to dealers. National forests issue free-use permits for petrified wood.

What the law says

“The maximum quantity of petrified wood that any one person is allowed to remove without charge per day is 25 pounds in weight plus one piece, provided that the maximum total amount that one person may remove in one calendar year shall not exceed 250 pounds. Pooling of quotas to obtain pieces larger than 250 pounds is not allowed.”

— 43 CFR 3622.4(a)(1) ↗

Meteorites. On BLM land hobbyists may collect meteorites from the surface, by hand, up to 10 pounds per person per year, for personal use (BLM policy on meteorites ↗). Closed areas include developed recreation sites, some conservation lands, wilderness and other areas closed by land use plans. Selling requires a commercial permit. Meteorites can never be collected in national parks, and the Forest Service treats them separately: ask the forest before you search.

What the agency says

“Casually-collected meteorites are for personal use only, and may not be bartered or sold for commercial purposes.”

— BLM Instruction Memorandum 2012-182 ↗

Artifacts. Arrowheads, pottery, stone tools and historic objects more than 100 years old are cultural resources. On federal land you may not collect them, not even arrowheads lying on the surface: the BLM prohibits it under its own rules (43 CFR 8365.1-5 ↗). Leave them where they are and report important finds.

What the agency says

“Collecting prehistoric tools and chips or flaking debris made of precious or semiprecious stones is not allowed.”

— BLM, Can I Keep This? ↗

Who manages what, agency by agency

• Bureau of Land Management. The most open land for prospecting and rockhounding, mostly in the West. Casual use ↗ needs no paperwork; anything more needs a notice or a plan of operations. Closed: developed recreation sites, posted areas and lands withdrawn from mineral entry, such as many national monuments and conservation areas.
• National forests. Panning, metal detecting, non-motorized hand sluicing, battery drywashers and collecting specimens with hand tools need no notice. Motorized equipment and dredges need a notice of intent ↗ to the district ranger, who has 15 days to tell you whether you also need an approved plan of operations. Rules for rocks, fossils and petrified wood vary from forest to forest.
• National parks and Park Service monuments. Everything is off limits: rocks, minerals, fossils, plants and animals, alive or dead. Even possessing a metal detector is prohibited unless it is broken down and packed away (36 CFR 2.1 ↗).
• Wilderness areas. Withdrawn from new mining claims since 1984 (Wilderness Act ↗). On BLM wilderness only hobby collecting without surface disturbance is allowed, and motorized equipment is out.
• National wildlife refuges. Destroying, disturbing or removing any natural object is prohibited (50 CFR 27.61 ↗).
• Corps of Engineers lakes and rivers. Removing mineral deposits, fossils or natural formations needs the written permission of the District Commander. Metal detectors are allowed only on designated beaches and other previously disturbed areas, unless the manager says otherwise (36 CFR 327.14 ↗).
• State land, state parks and state forests. Every state has its own rules, from total bans in most state parks to permits on state trust land. See the state pages.
• Tribal land. Reservations are sovereign land: nothing is allowed without the tribe's permission.
• Private land. Always ask the owner first, ideally in writing. Many of the best collecting sites, especially in the East, are private: fee-dig sites and clubs are how most people get onto them.

What the law says

“The District Ranger will, within 15 days of receipt of a notice of intent to operate, notify the operator if approval of a plan of operations is required before the operations may begin.”

— 36 CFR 228.4(a)(2) ↗

What the law says

“Destruction, injury, defacement, removal or any alteration of public property including, but not limited to, developed facilities, natural formations, mineral deposits, historical and archaeological features, paleontological resources, boundary monumentation or markers and vegetative growth, is prohibited except when in accordance with written permission of the District Commander.”

— 36 CFR 327.14(a) ↗

What the law says

“Possessing, destroying, injuring, defacing, removing, digging, or disturbing from its natural state: … Nonfossilized and fossilized paleontological specimens, cultural or archeological resources, or the parts thereof. … A mineral resource or cave formation or the parts thereof.”

— 36 CFR 2.1(a)(1) (national parks) ↗

Can I sell what I find?

Rocks, minerals, gemstones, fossils, petrified wood and meteorites collected under the hobby rules on BLM land are for personal use only: they may not be sold or bartered, and commercial collecting needs a contract or permit from the agency (43 CFR 8365.1-5 ↗). Fossils collected on federal land can't be sold at all. The same personal-use rule applies to petrified wood from national forests.

What the law says

“The collection of renewable or nonrenewable resources from the public lands for sale or barter to commercial dealers may be done only after obtaining a contract or permit from an authorized officer in accordance with part 3600 or 5400 of this chapter.”

— 43 CFR 8365.1-5(c) ↗

Gold works differently, because it falls under the Mining Law ↗: on a valid claim, the minerals belong to the claim holder. If you are thinking of prospecting to sell, the honest advice is to work on your own claim or a club claim, with the notices or plans your equipment needs.

Questions and answers

Rules state by state

Each state adds its own rules on top of the federal ones: permits for pumps and dredges and what they cost, closed seasons, state parks and state land. We are writing the state pages one by one, checking every rule against the law.

• Alabama
• Alaska · Coming soon
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Sources

• 30 U.S.C. 22: Mining Law, lands open to exploration
• 43 CFR 3809.5: BLM definition of casual use
• 43 CFR 8365.1-5: collecting on BLM public lands
• 43 CFR 3622.4: petrified wood collection rules
• 43 CFR 3833.11: recording mining claims
• 36 CFR 228.4: Forest Service notice of intent
• 36 CFR 2.1: National Park Service resource protection
• 50 CFR 27.61: national wildlife refuges
• 36 CFR 327.14: Corps of Engineers public property
• 16 U.S.C. 1133: Wilderness Act, use of wilderness areas
• BLM: Can I Collect Fossils?
• BLM: Can I Keep This? A guide to collecting on public lands (PDF)
• BLM Instruction Memorandum 2012-182: collection of meteorites
• BLM Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS)
• Federal Register 1998: Arizona BLM supplementary rules on rockhounding
• Forest Service: gold panning, rockhounding and metal detecting
• Forest Service, Tonto National Forest: rocks, minerals and fossils
• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: Gold and Fish pamphlet
• EPA: general permit for small suction dredge miners in Idaho